Clinical study of acupoint injection of astragalus injection on hypotension and protein-energy malnutrition in maintenance hemodialysis patients

Objective  To investigate the influences of acupoint injection of astragalus injection on hypotension and protein-energy malnutrition(PEM) in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients.

Methods From March 2021 to May 2022, 68 patients with MHD admitted to Wuhan Hankou Hospital were randomly divided into the control group(34 patients, treated with routine hemodialysis) and the study group(34 patients, treated with acupoint injection of astragalus injection on the basis of the control group), the basic clinical data of patients were collected, and the incidence of hypotension, the incidence of PEM, serum albumin(Alb), prealbumin(PA), hemoglobin(Hb), systolic blood pressure(SBP), diastolic blood pressure(DBP), changes in inflammatory factor levels, and the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups were compared.

Results  The incidence of hypotension of the control group(26.47%), the incidence of PEM of the control group(20.59%), the incidence of hypotension(5.88%) and PEM(2.94%) in MHD patients in the study group were significantly decreased(P<0.05). Before treatment, SBP, DBP, Alb, interleukin-6(IL-6), interleukin-17(IL-17) and C-reactive protein were detected in two groups of MHD patients. After treatment, the levels of SBP (105.84±22.93) mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa), DBP (72.04±9.72) mmHg, Alb (43.89±5.22) g/L, PA (287.03±53.38) mg/L and Hb (94.95±23.68) g/L in MHD patients in study group. The levels of SBP (92.74±18.73) mmHg, DBP (65.94±8.66) mmHg, Alb (38.74±5.05) g/L, PA (248.67±49.29) mg/L, Hb (83.35±17.67) g/L in control group(P<0.05). The levels of IL-6 (20.51±4.05) ng/L, IL-17 (12.16±3.09) ng/L and CRP (5.85±0.67) mg/L in MHD patients in study group. The levels of IL-6 (32.36±5.96) ng/L, IL-17 (25.77±4.86) ng/L, CRP (6.96±0.95) mg/L in control group(P<0.05). The total incidence of adverse reactions in the study group and the control group during the treatment period was 2.94% and 11.76%, respectively, with no obvious difference(P>0.05).

Conclusion  Acupoint injection of astragalus injection can obviously reduce the incidences of hypotension and PEM in MHD patients, and improve the blood pressure level, nutritional status and body inflammation in MHD patients. This treatment method is safe and worthy of clinical promotion.